The Paul Brady Songbook

Simply scroll down the page to see all lyrics, or click on the song of your choice below to go to the lyrics for that song.

1. Oh What a World
2. The Long Goodbye
3. I Will be There
4. Nobody Knows
5. I Believe in Magic
6. Blue World
7. Crazy Dreams
8. Nothing But The Same Old Story
9. Helpless Heart
10. Follow On
11. The World is What You Make It
12. The Homes of Donegal
13. The Hawana Way

Oh, What a World (Paul Brady/ Will Jennings)

Cried a lotta blues up and down the street
(I’d) lose everything I had but I would not lose the beat
Oh yeah, oh no!
Had a lotta lovin’, bitter and the sweet
Bring you up in glory, drop you in defeat
Oh yeah, oh no!
Oh what a world!

Chorus

Oh, what a world we live in
But it’s the one we’re given
Stand up and face the trouble!
Baby, I’m gonna love you
And you can try to love me too
Oh, yeah, oh, no! Oh, what a world!
Middle of the night, wake up in a sweat
The devil’s gonna get me but he has not got me yet
Oh yeah, oh no!
Reach out and I hold you and we double up our love
If I wind up down below you will you watch me from above?
Oh, yeah oh, no!
Oh, what a world!

Repeat Chorus

Oh, yeah!
Baby keep hangin on
Oh, no!
Dont you ever let go
Oh, yeah!
There’s a wind comin’ up
Oh, no!
And the sun’s bound to show
Take you to the races, put our money down
Pick up all our winnings, dance all over town
Oh, yeah! oh, no!
Oh, what a world!

Repeat Chorus.

The Long Goodbye (Paul Brady/ Ronan Keating) Round Hill Music/ Universal Music Publishing)

I know they say if you love somebody
You should set them free (so they say)
But it sure is hard to do
Yeah, it sure is hard to do
And I know they say if they don’t come back again
Then it’s meant to be ( so they say)
But those words don’t pull me through
Cos I’m still in love with you
I spend each day here waiting for a miracle
But it’s just you and me goin through the mill
(climbin’ up a hill)

Chorus

This is the long goodbye
Somebody tell me why
Two lovers in love can’t make it
Just what kind of love keeps breaking a heart?
No matter how hard we try
You’re gonna make me cry
Come on, baby, it’s over.. Let’s face it
All that’s happening here is a long goodbye

Sometimes I ask my heart did we really
Give our love a chance ( just one more chance)
But I know without a doubt
That we turned it inside out
And if we walked away
It would make more sense ( only self defence)
But it tears me up inside
Just to think we still could try
How long must we keep riding on a carousel
Goin round and round and never getting anywhere?
(on a wing and prayer)

Chorus

Repeat Chorus

fade

I Will Be There (Paul Brady / John O’ Kane)

When times are hard
And friends are few
And you need someone
To help you through
Just call my name
And I’ll come running to your side
Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid

I will be there
(When you are lost, lost in the night,
nowhere to turn)
I will be there
(Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid)

When morning comes
and nothing’s changed
And the world outside
Plays the same old game
Just call on me
And I will ease your lonely heart
Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid

I will be there
(When you are lost, lost in the night,
nowhere to turn)
I will be there
(Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid)
I will be there
(When everyone that you believed
still lets you down)
I will be there
(Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid)

I will be there, don’t be afraid
I will be there, don’t be afraid
When morning comes
and nothing’s changed
And the world outside
Plays the same old game
When everyone still lets you down
I will be there
When times are hard
And friends are few
And you need someone to help you through
I will be there, don’t be afraid
I will be there, don’t be afraid
I will be there

Nobody Knows (Paul Brady)

Johnny’s got high expectations
He’s gonna rise
Everyone knows that Johnny is ready
He’s ready to fly
Up on the rooftop he turns to the crowd
No one is waiting
No one is there

Chorus
Nobody knows why Elvis threw it all away
Nobody knows what Ruby had to hide
Nobody knows why some of us get broken hearts
And some of us find a world that’s clear and bright
You could be packed up and ready
Knowing exactly where to go
How come you miss the connection?
No use in asking…the answer is nobody knows
No use in asking…the answer is nobody knows

Johnny will keep his illusions
What else can he do?
And you can pretend that it would be different
If it happened to you
But up on the rooftop, it’s a whole other world
And who could see heaven
And not want to stay?

Repeat Chorus

I Believe In Magic (Paul Brady/Gary Nicholson)

The moment I first saw you
Girl, I knew
That I could spend a lifetime
Loving you
Then we found out how easy
Love can slip away
Now it’s become a mystery
How to make love stay
But even when you tell me
Tell me you don’t know me
And even when there’s so much
So much you won’t show me
Yeah, even when it looks like
All we had is gone

I believe in magic (when I say ‘please stay’)
Love’s own magic ( and you turn away)
I believe in magic ( when I see you cry)
Love’s own magic ( and I don’t know why)

We both know that the way of love
Is impossible to explain
You light a little candle and you make a wish
The love we had can reappear again

Cos I believe in magic
So baby, let me take you
To the wishing well
Let’s you and I surrender
To the spell
Cos even when it looks like
We’re living an illusion
Even when we’re lost
In a world of confusion
I know in a heartbeat
Everything can change
Cos I believe in magic (when I say ‘please stay’)
Love’s own magic ( and you turn away)
I believe in magic ( when I see you cry)
Love’s own magic ( and I don’t know why)
I believe in magic (when I call your name)
Love’s own magic (but it’s still the same)
Yeah yeah! ( when I ask the lord each night)
Said yeah yeah! ( am I wrong or am I right?)
I believe in magic (when I tell myself it’s time to quit)
Love’s own magic ( cos I just can’t see the sense in it)
Said yeah yeah ! (am I wrong or am I right?)
Yeah yeah! (am I wrong or am I right?)
I believe in magic (am I wrong or am I right?)
Do you believe in magic? (am I wrong or am I right?)

Blue World (Paul Brady)

There you go again
Pretending that the world is blue
And you see red when I explain
That I don’t share your point of view
Well I say open up your eyes
For the world is like a rainbow
And maybe blue is just the colour
Of the world inside of you
But that kind of blue world
That’s not my world
I don’t want to paint your picture
I ain’t here to sing your sorrows
Ain’t got time to be your hero
I don’t want to be your poet

Chorus

Everybody feel the same pain
Everybody doing time
I can’t be the one you’re needing
I can just be who I am

Who I am
We all want a world
With a perfect constitution
Believe me, we all want it now
Don’t want to wait another day
And maybe if this world’s to change
It’s going to take a revolution
But in the meantime, be my friend
And don’t turn your head away
For your kind of blue world
That’s not my world
I don’t want to paint your picture
I don’t want to write your dreams
I ain’t here to sing your sorrows
Your blue world is not my scene
Ain’t got time to be your hero
You can tell me that’s a crime
I don’t want to be your poet
Crying out your ancient rhyme

Chorus

Crazy Dreams (Paul Brady)

Snow-bound siren in the winter dawn
There’s a blizzard blowing in from off the river
It’s ten below out on these city streets,
But the feeling in your heart is even colder
The sunrise screeching down the line
And the fog banks running out of time,
But you won’t be here when they creep in tomorrow

You’re tired of dreaming someone else’s dreams
When they really don’t include you any longer
Miles from home, you’re sliding down with each day
And you need a woman’s love to make you stronger
And lately you’ve been getting doubts
A voice inside keeps calling out
That someone else’s dreams don’t get you nowhere.

So shut the suitcase, kiss the year goodbye
Don’t let nobody stop you at the doorway
And close the shutters on this empty room
Where these crazy dreams come crawling to devour you
And head on out across that line
Where she’s been waiting all this time
And tell her that you want her there forever.

It’s still two hours till this plane gets down
Can hardly bear to wait another minute
Your sweet loving babe is all that I need
Darling it’s been building up inside of me
Tonight we’ll go and paint this town
We’re gonna drink champagne, till we both fall down
And we’ll find some other crazy dream tomorrow.

Nothing But The Same Old Story (Paul Brady)

I was just about nineteen
When I landed on their shore
With my eyes big as headlights
Like the thousands and thousands who came before
I was going to be something . . .
Smiled at the man scrutinising my face
As I stepped down off the gangway

Came down to their city
Where I worked for many’s the year
Built a hundred houses
Must’ve pulled half a million pints of beer
Living under suspicion
Putting up with the hatred and fear in their eyes
You can see that you’re nothing but a murderer
In their eyes, we’re nothing but a bunch of murderers

Hey, Johnny, can’t wait till Saturday night!
Got a thirst that’s raging . . .
Know a place where we can put that right
Wash away the confusion
Hose down this fire inside
But look out!
‘Cause I’ll tear you into pieces if you cross me.

I’m sick of watching them break up
Every time some bird brain puts us down
Making jokes on the radio . . .
Guess it helps them all drown out the sound
Of the crumbling foundations
Any fool can see the writing on the wall
But they just don’t believe that its happening.

There’s a crowd says I’m alright
Say they like my turn of phrase
Take me round to their parties
Like some dressed up monkey in a cage.
And I play my accordion
Oh! but when the wine seeps through the facade
It’s nothing but the same old story
Nothing but the same old story

Got a brother in Boston
Says he’ll send me on the fare
Just wrote me a letter
Making out that he’s cleaning up out there
Two cars in the driveway.
Summer house way down on the Cape
And I know he’d fix me up in the morning

I’ve been thinking about it
But it seems so far to go
People say in the winter
you’d get lost underneath the snow
And there’s this girl from my home place
We’ve been planning to move back and give it a try
So I never got around to going
That’s why I never got around to going.

Helpless Heart (Paul Brady)

I’m sitting here inside this stranger’s place
And time is racing by
I’ve been way out here for a month or more,
Tonight I’m wondering why . . .
You try to understand the things that I feel
Maybe this time I’ll find a way to explain it.

There is a dream, deep inside my head
And it may seem like it’s breaking the thread
That holds me to you . . .
Still you have never wanted to change me
But darling I know, though we’re far apart
The signal is strong
This helpless heart will always belong to you . . .
To you, only to you, no one but you

This power takes me from the place I belong
To where only the strong get through
You got to keep on believing or you lose your way,
It slips right out of view . . .
Though there are days the light can flicker and fade
Here in this place tonight a fire is burning.

Follow On (Paul Brady)

Shutters on the windows, chains upon the door
Sleepless nights spent waiting for an answer
Dreams of heaven falling, panic in the town
Lonely men with fingers on the future…

When all is said and done
You are the only one

Follow on
For the open road is waiting,
Like the song,
We will welcome what tomorrow has to bring
Be it fair or stormy weather
Take my hand
And we’ll walk the road together
I won’t mind
If it turns out that we never find the end
For all I ask is that you want me as a friend

Days of beauty calling, vanish through a haze
Lost inside some spiral with no ending
Still you bring me loving, free me with a touch
Lead me out to greet the calm descending

When all is said and done
You are the only one

Repeat Chorus

The World Is What you Make It (Paul Brady)

I knew this African called Hannibal
Rock it roll it send it down the avenue
Went out to see the Roman Empire fall
Uh huh? uh huh?

Two thousand elephants in gold chain-mail
Take it, shake it, make it what you wanna be
Them Roman legionnaires they hit the trail
Uh huh?

The world is what you make it
The world is what you make it

When Cleopatra ruled in Egypt’s land
Jump down, turn around, look at what the monkey did
She went to find herself a mighty man
Uh huh? uh huh?

In come Antonio from Italy
Haul it, ball it, drag it up the pyramid,
He never knew how hot a girl could be
Uh huh?

The world is what you make it
The world is what you make it baby
The world is what you make it

Don’t start to hit me with your “no can do ”
Bluesin’, losin’, workin’ up an attitude
Clean up them windows let the sun shine through
Uh huh? uh huh?
There ain’t no happy time without no pain
heartbreak, new date, move on up the alleyway
Pick up them pieces hit the road again
Uh huh?

The world is what you make it
The world is what you make it baby
The world is what you make it

The Homes Of Donegal (Sean Mc Bride/ arranged Paul Brady)

I’ve just dropped in to see you all
I’ll only stay awhile
I want to hear how you’re getting on
I want to hear you smile
I’m happy to be back again
And greet you big and small
For there’s no place on earth just like
The homes of Donegal

I long to see your smiling children
Standing by the door
The kettle boiling on the hearth
As I walk up the floor
And then to see a welcome free
For travellers one and all
For your hearts are like your mountains
In the homes of Donegal

I’d like to stay along with you
And while away the night
With fairy lore and tales of yore
Beside the turf fire bright
And then to see laid out for me
A shake-down by the wall
For there’s rest for weary wanderers
In the homes of Donegal

The time has come for me to go
And bid you all adieu
For the open highway calls me back
To do these things I do
But when I’m travelling far away
Your friendship I’ll recall
And please God I’ll soon return unto
The homes of Donegal

Donegal, Pride of all
Donegal, Pride of all

The Hawana Way (Paul Brady)

I WAS DOWN IN A HOLE SNUFFLIN’ LIKE A MOLE
WHEN MY FRIEND ON THE PHONE TOLD ME IT’S OK
THERE’S A PLACE YOU CAN BE.. THE MUSIC SETS YOU FREE
COME ON OVER AND WE’LL DO IT THE HAWANA WAY

CARLOS VARELA, CHU CHU VALDES
MUÑEQUITOS DE MATANZAS, BENNY MORÉ
YEAH, REUBEN GONZALES, WHAT CAN I SAY?
HEY! BARBARITO TORRES!!

IF YOUR MIND IS A MESS, YOUR BODY’S IN DISTRESS
CATCH YOUR SORRY SOUL A REST THE HAWANA WAY
THROW YOUR FUTURE TO THE WIND
YOU’LL FIND IT’S NO SIN
START A NEW WAY OF LIVING THE HAWANA WAY

SO I DID LIKE SHE SAID, THREW MY SUITCASE ON THE BED
PACKED MY RENNIES, PEPTO-BISMOL, PARACETAMOL
AND I’M FEELIN’ NO PAIN ON SOME FUNKY RUSSIAN PLANE
HEADIN’ DOWN THE CARIBBEAN TO FORGET IT ALL

’55 CHEVVIES, ’65 FORDS,
COFFEE SKINNED CHICAS ON THE MALECON
MOJITOS, HABAÑOS… APAGON!!!
HEY COCO TAXI, HANG ON!

IF YOUR MIND IS A MESS, YOUR BODY’S IN DISTRESS
CATCH YOUR SORRY SOUL A REST THE HAWANA WAY
THROW YOUR FUTURE TO THE WIND
YOU’LL FIND IT’S NO SIN
START A NEW WAY OF LIVING THE HAWANA WAY

GIMME ONE MORE DAY,
BABE I GOTTA STAY
HEAR THAT MUSIC PLAY
THE HAWANA WAY
HAWANA WAY

Hey Hey!